Root touch-up that covers gray

Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick has the best record for covering gray roots: 25 of 27 reviewers said it covered their gray and blended in. Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder comes next at 24 of 27, and Color Wow Root Cover Up has the weakest record here at 16 of 22. We count just reviewers who said they have gray roots or regrowth.

  • 179 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Mar 2018 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it cover the gray? What reviewers with gray roots said
  1. Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick 27 said either way
  2. Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder 27 said either way
  3. L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up 29 said either way
  4. TRESemmé Root Touch-Up Color Spray 24 said either way
  5. Color Wow Root Cover Up 22 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for gray coverage. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick Best record Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick 25 of 27 say it covered their gray roots See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Rubbing off on hands or pillows is the main complaint on L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up (20%) and TRESemmé Root Touch-Up Color Spray (20%). Both also draw reports of stiff or sticky hair, at 18% and 15%.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick

Everpro

Gray Away Quick Stick

Best for easy to apply

25/27 say it covered their gray roots

Reviewers with gray roots say it works: 25 of 27 said it covered the gray. 26% call it easy to apply and 14% say it stayed until washing. Complaints are small, with 11% saying it rubbed off on hands or pillows and 9% getting the wrong color.

What buyers praise

  • Easy to apply 26%
  • Stays until washing 14%
  • Looks natural 11%
  • Color matches 6%

What buyers complain about

  • Rubs off on hands or pillow 11%
  • Wrong color 9%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 25 of 27
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted
2 Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder

Clairol

Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder

24/27 say it covered their gray roots

Ease and color are the draw. 24% call it easy to apply and 13% say the color matched. The complaints are wrong color (8%) and gray still showing (8%).

What buyers praise

  • Easy to apply 24%
  • Color matches 13%
  • Stays until washing 8%
  • Looks natural 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Wrong color 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 24 of 27
  • Brand site 3 of 5 shown, not counted
3 L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up

L'Oréal Paris

Magic Root Cover Up

25/29 say it covered their gray roots

Most reviewers weighed in on this one (29), and 25 of 29 said it covered their gray. The trade-offs are mess and feel: 20% say it rubbed off on hands or pillows and 18% say it left hair stiff or sticky.

What buyers praise

  • Easy to apply 8%
  • Color matches 8%
  • Looks natural 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Rubs off on hands or pillow 20%
  • Stiff or sticky hair 18%
  • Wrong color 10%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 25 of 29
  • Brand site 2 of 3 shown, not counted
4 TRESemmé Root Touch-Up Color Spray

TRESemmé

Root Touch-Up Color Spray

Best for stays until washing

21/24 say it covered their gray roots

Reviewers like how it stays put, with 18% saying it stayed until washing, and 8% call it good value. The catches are rubbing off on hands or pillows (20%) and stiff or sticky hair (15%).

What buyers praise

  • Stays until washing 18%
  • Looks natural 10%
  • Color matches 8%
  • Good value 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Rubs off on hands or pillow 20%
  • Stiff or sticky hair 15%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 21 of 24
  • Brand site 5 of 5 shown, not counted
5 Color Wow Root Cover Up

Color Wow

Root Cover Up

Best for natural look

16/22 say it covered their gray roots

27% say it looks natural, but 27% say gray still showed through, and its 16 of 22 is the weakest record here. Color Wow's own site is kinder at 8 of 9, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Looks natural 27%
  • Easy to apply 15%
  • Stays until washing 8%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Target 16 of 22
  • Brand site 8 of 9 shown, not counted

Where these numbers come from

The 5 products ranked here carry 7,829 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about gray coverage, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Mar 2018 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (1 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick Target (35 reviews counted)
  2. Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder Target (38 reviews counted)
  3. L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. TRESemmé Root Touch-Up Color Spray Target (40 reviews counted)
  5. Color Wow Root Cover Up Target (26 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which root touch-up covers gray?

Everpro Gray Away Quick Stick has the best record (25 of 27), followed by Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up Powder (24 of 27) and L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up (25 of 29). These counts include just reviewers with gray roots or regrowth.

Does root touch-up rub off on hands and pillows?

Some does. 20% of L'Oréal reports and 20% of TRESemmé reports mention it, against 11% of Everpro reports. Follow the directions on the package.

Does Color Wow Root Cover Up cover gray?

Often, but it has the weakest record here at 16 of 22. 27% of its reports say gray still showed through, while 27% say it looks natural.

Will a root touch-up match my hair color?

Usually, but wrong color is a real complaint: 10% of L'Oréal reports, 9% of Everpro reports and 8% of Clairol reports. Compare the shade on the package with your own hair color before you buy.

Related problems

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.